Hitting the hood of a car hard enough to crumple it, Eddie Brock is left a mangled and bloody mess. Horrified, Spider-Man rushes to him protesting that he tried to catch him but there were too many symbiote dragons. Stammering that he doesn't know what to do if Eddie's dead, Spider-Man desperately calls out for anyone to come and help. Regaining consciousness, Eddie weakly tells Peter to look after Dylan for him. Atop the Empire State Building, Knull lets out an annoyed sigh and wonders how one human could be so hard to kill. On the ground below, Spider-Man gingerly tries to extricate Eddie's broken body from the wrecked car, stating that they need to fall back as Knull has killed everyone else. His Spider-Sense goes off and Spider-Man ducks just in time to evade a beam of energy, turning to see Storm, Cyclops, the Hulk (Jen Walters), the Thing, Captain America, and Ms. Marvel have been taken over by symbiotes and are now encased in armor resembling Knull's. Grabbing Eddie, Spider-Man prepares to flee only to see the Human Torch flying towards them. Johnny tells Spider-Man to get Eddie to the Fantastic Four's lab while he holds off the symbiote-possessed heroes. Spider-Man informs him that fire doesn't work against these symbiotes, Johnny quipping that just means he won't kill any of their friends using his Nova Blast. When Spider-Man protests that Johnny will be knocked out and taken over, the Human Torch solemnly stating that he knows this before telling Spider-Man to let everyone know he went down saying something cool and heroic. As Johnny sets off a massive explosion, Spider-Man swings away with Eddie's webbed-up body.

Later, at 4 Yancy Street, Spider-Man begs Valkyrie to tell him she can use her divine powers to heal Eddie - who is comatose and being hooked up to life-support equipment by Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Valkyrie grimly tells Spider-Man the best she can do is see how close a person is to death and that if he wants to save his former rival he needs to hurry. As Spider-Man asks her to do what she can, Valkyrie tells him she needs to go take Robert Reynold's soul to Valhalla, Spider-Man sadly remarking that he has other business to attend to as well.

At Ezekiel Sims' bunker, Dylan Brock is playing a first-person shooter video-game, a numb expression on his face. As Spider-Man enters, Dylan bluntly asks if Eddie is dead. Spider-Man says that Eddie was still alive when he left but that Dylan needs to pack in a hurry. Arriving at the Fantastic Four's base, Dylan is horrified to see his father's condition, Spider-Man admonishing him for swearing but nonetheless concurring. Inside, the Black Panther confers with Valkyrie and Mister Fantastic; while Blade argues with Professor X and Magneto over their decision to withdraw to Krakoa and cease providing aid to the global effort to combat Knull's invasion. As Magneto launches into a furious tirade, Spider-Man interrupts asking for an update on Eddie's condition. Reed remarks that Eddie's condition is unchanged but that the fate of the world is at stake, the Black Panther putting the resources of Wakanda at their disposal and asking if anyone remembers what they did with the Infinity Stones, Cosmic Cube, and Ultimate Nullifier. Blade incredulously asks why T'Challa thinks they'd need reality-warping objects when Knull is just one person, Valkyrie bluntly stating that Knull is an abyssal elder god who predates their universe and has effortlessly killed some of the most-powerful beings in the cosmos. King Namor enters the room, sneering at Knull calling himself a king, and Blade irritably asks who invited him. Mister Fantastic scowls at his wife, who retorts that she called Namor in because they need all the help they can get. Slamming the butt of his trident against the floor to get everyone's attention, Namor disdainfully remarks that his people have been fighting in the dark for millions of years and that the people of the surface have just started but ar

---